MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

6/18 Extra bases

The Cubs set season highs in runs (12), hits (15) and home runs (five) in Monday’s 12-3 win over the White Sox. They also tied a season high with six runs in the seventh. They also hit five home runs against the White Sox on July 2, 2006.

“That was obviously, no doubt, our best offensive production of the year — slugging percentage, quality at-bats, hitting the fastball, taking advantage of all the mistakes they made throughout the whole lineup,” Dale Sveum said. “I think everybody had a pretty good day today, one way or another.”

* Bryan LaHair was hitting .323 with nine home runs and 18 RBIs on the road. LaHair made his first start in the outfield, starting in right. He was tested almost immediately. Gordon Beckham lined a ball to right in the first and LaHair grabbed it on the run.

“I kind of had a feeling I was going to get a ball early in the game,” LaHair said. “It always works that way. I got a good read and got a good jump and took a good angle and was able to make the play.”

* Alfonso Soriano has four home runs and 10 RBIs as the Cubs designated hitter, which are highs for the franchise. It’s a shame they couldn’t play the Tigers in Detroit and the Red Sox in Boston. He’s hitting .363 with five homers and 10 RBIs in an eight-game hitting streak.

* Starlin Castro tied a season high with three hits, and recorded back to back three-hit games for the second time in his career. The shortstop had been in a little funk at the start of the month. What changed?

“Probably his average dropping under .300,” Sveum said. “I’ve noticed a lot of good hitters, when that average gets below .300, I think they start turning it up a notch.”

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